Apparatus for purifying and humidifying air.



A. W. USSAUER. APPARATUS FOR PURIFYANG AND nummu vme Am. APPLICATIONFILED MAY 4. I917. 1 gfi i filg Patented Jan. 22,1918.

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I Specification of Letters Patent.

mipinal application filed August 22, 1916, Serial No. 116,266. Dividedand this application filed May 4,

1917. Serfa1No.1l66,$.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that T, AooLrnr W. Lrssmonr, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Apparatusfor Purifying and Humidifying Air, of which the following is a full,clear,

and exact description.

The subject matter of this application is subdivided from my applicationSerial No.

-. 116,266, filed August 22, 1916, and issued November 6, 1917, underPatent No. 1,245,247.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for controllingthetemperature of the moisture supplied to the air so as to deliver saidair at a constant saturation temperature or absolute humidity.

Inthe accompanying drawing, forming part of the application, the figurerepresents a diagrammatic, sectional view through the apparatusembodying my invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is an air conduitspaced from a similarconduit 2 by a chamber 3 which extends below the conduits to form a sump4. The chamberhas a partition 5 raised from the bottom thereoftransversely of the conduits .whereby the sump is' divided into twocompartments 6 and 7. A water inlet 8 is provided for the compartment 7of the sump and the valve w 9 of the said inlet is controlled by a float1d An over flow 11 is formed from said 'com-. partinent 7 whereby thelevel of water insaid compartment 7 is maintained constant. Thepartition 5 rises above the overflow 11, consequently liquid may flowfrom the compartment .6 into the compartment 7, but. not vice versa.

A plurality of sprinklers or nozzles 12 are provided in the chamber 3above the compartment 7 in the path of the air current moving in thedirection indicated by the arrows. The water is supplied to the nozzlesby a pump 13, the inlet of which is connected to a mixing valve 14 whichhas a conduit 15 leading to the compartment 6 and a conduit 16 leadingto the compartment 7.

The flow from conduits 15 and 16 to the pump13 is controlled by valves17 and 18 respectively, the two valves being mounted on a single stem 19to move in synchromsm. The distance between the two valves is such thatthere can always be a flow through one of the conduits at least, andthere may be a flow through both of the conduits.

The stem 19 extends out of the mixing valve to engage a-diaphragmmechanism 20 to one side of which air pressure may be v The separatoreliminates the excess of moisture which, in the sha e of waterparticles, may be carried away y the current of the air when the mist isformed in the current by the nozzles. 12. The water in compartment 7 isheated from any suitable source, as, for example, steam supply. Thevalve 26 of the supply is controlled from a diaphragm mechanism 20 whichis subjected to compressed air through a conduit 24. The pressure of theair flowing to the diaphragm mechanism 20 is controlled by a thermostat25 located in the air conduit 1. v The thermostat is surrounded by somesubstance which is maintained moist so that the temperature controllingthe thermostat is the wet bulb temperature. In place of the thermostat,a hy grometer may be used; in which case'the absolute humidity wouldcontrol the diaphragm mechanism 20. Both diaphragm mechanisms 20 and 20are supplied from the same source of compressed fluid through conduits27. A conduit 28 connects the conduit 24 to that part, of the conduit 27which" is connected to the thermostat 22. A check valve 29 is providedin the conduit 28 which prevents theflow of air toward the conduit 24.This connection permits the thermostat 22 to influence the va Ive 26through the thermostat 25.

The thermostats used are of the type which vary fluid pressure'on thediaphragm valve by variable leakage of air controlled by the temperatureto whith the thermostats are ex-' posed. Other types of thermostats canbe used. eitheroperated by compressed air or other fluids, or by othermeans. The air pressure from the conduits 27 to the diaphragm mechanismis. controlled by throttling devices 30. A throttling 'device 31 is Thethermostat 22 controls the position of i the valves 17 and 18 and,therefore, controls the mixture of water coming from the compartments 6and 7. The thermostat 25 controls the heat supplied through the valve26,

The said thermostat is so constructed that when it is set for a certaintemperature and is surrounded by air cooler than the temperature thetendency 'is to decrease the fluid pressure leak through it and,therefore, 'shunt'morepressure on the diaphragm mechanism 20, which willoperate the valve to increase the supply of heating medium, therebyincreasing the temperature of the water in the compartment 7 As thetemperature of the air surrounding the thermostat25 reaches thepredetermined temperature, the air leak therein increases in turndecreasing the pressure on the diaphragm mechanism 20, thereby reducingthe supply of heating medium and, consequently, lowering the temperature of the water in compartment 7. The

rapidity of the leak and, therefore, the movement of the diaphragm 20"iscontrolled by the throttle.30. The valve-26 which controls the supplyofheatingv medium is of the reverse-acting type, sothat in caseoffailure of air pressure the valve will automatically close and shutoff the supply of heating medium, thus preventing overheating.

The thermostat 22 is of a similar structure and it is set to decreaseair leak when the temperature surrounding it is lower than the settemperature. Consequently more air pressure will be exerted on thediaphragm mechanism 20, in consequence of which displacement the valve17 approaches its seat and the valve '18 is displaced further from itsseat. Therefore, a larger quantity of heated water will enter from thecompartment 7 and a lesser quantity of cooler water I Will enter fromcompartment 6. If the surrounding temperature of thermostat 22 is higherthan the set temperature the air leak increases. There is a decrease ofpressure on the diaphragm mechanism 20 and, consequently, the supply ofheated water is decreased and that of coolwater is increased. It will benoted that the mixing valve 14 is of the balancing type; consequently,the slightest variationin pressure onthe diaphragm mechanism is quicklyresponded to by the mixing valve.

The thermostat 25 is so set that the water in compartment 7 ismaintained at a slightly higher temperature than necessary to heat thespray water to the required temperature when mixed with a predeterminedquantity of water from compartment 6. This predetermined quantity ofWater from compartment 6 is obtained by synchronizing the displacementof the mixing valve 14 and the valve 26 through the medium of thethermostat 22. The temperatures therein referred to are wet-bulbtemperatures.

Assuming the thermostat 22 is set to main- .tain a temperature leavingconduit 2 of T Thermostat .25 is set to close the valve 26 at anincrease in temperature determined to be a certain number of degreesabove T. or

a (T -FA). When the entering temperature falls below this point (T -i-A)the air leak in 25 decreases and tends to open the valve 26, heating thewater in compartment 7 to a point above thatrequired to heat to T Whenthe water in compartment 7 is mixed with a predetermined quantity ofwater from compartment 6 the tendency is also to heat the water incompartment 6 or the moisture in the separator above T In consequencethe thermostat 22 increases the air leak, tending to reduce pressure onthe diaphragm mechanism 20 and allowing more of the cooler water comingfrom compartment 6 to mix With less of the heated water from compartment7.

Due to the same cause, air pressure Will be reduced on the diaphragmmechanism 20 of the valve 26 through the medium of the conduit 28.:Therefore the valve 26 will move to the closing point in proportion tothe movement of the mixing valve 14, which has increased the quantity ofcooler water and decreased the amount of the hotter water. The leak ofair through the conduit 28 is controlled by the throttling device 31, sothat any desired proportion of the displacement between the valves maybe obtained. This displacement of the valve 26 reduces the supply ofheat to compartment 7, consequently reduces the temperature of theexcess of moisture in the separator 23 and, therefore, the/Water incompartment 6.

Due to the drop of temperature the leak in the thermostat 22 decreasesand the mixing valve returns to the normal position. By controlling thevalve 26 by the two thermostats 22 and 25 it is possible to control thetemperature of the water in compartment 7 to the fraction of a degree,even if the temperature of the entering air is not constant. When theinitial temperature of theair current is T +A, the system is inoperativewith the heating medium. By substituting a cooling medium for theheating medium, the action of the apparatus reverses and the same methodbecomes applicable.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for purifying and humidifying air, comprising incombination,an air chamber having a sump divided into two parts, saidchamber having means whereby air may be circulated through. the chamberacross the two parts of the sump, means for supplying and heating thewater in one part of sump, a thermostat affected by the temperature ofthe air current entering the chamber for controlling the supply. ofheat, said part of sump having an overflow to maintain the water leveltherein constant and below the water level in the other art,sprayforming means in the path of t e air current, means for eliminatingthe excess of moisture from the air and directing it to said other partof sump, a pump for driving Letters water to the spray-forming means,means for supplying to the pump a mixture of water from both parts ofthe sump, a secondthermostat affected by the temperature of the water inthe said other part of the sump for controlling the mixture, and theheating means independently of the first mentioned thermostat.

2. An apparatus for purifying and humidifying air, comprising incombination,an air chamber having a sump divided into two parts, saidchamber having means whereby air may be circulated through the chamberacross the parts of the sump, means for supplying and heating the waterin one part of the sump, a thermostat influenced by the wet-bulbtemperature of the air current entering the chamber controlling theheating means, said one part of sump having an overflow to maintain thewater level therein and below the water level in the other part,spray-forming means in the path of the air current, a separator foreliminating the excess of moisture from the .air current and adapted todirect the excess of moisture to said second part of the sump, a pumpadapted to draw water from either or both sumps and discharge to thespray-forming means, a mixing valve interposed between the pump and thetwo sumps, and a thermostat affected by the temperature of the water insaid second part of sump for controlling the mixing valve, wherebyvarious quantities of water from either part of sump may be supplied tothe pump.

3. An apparatus for purifying and humidifying air, comprising incombination,an

air chamber having a constant supply orwater, said chamber having meanswhereby an air current can be circulated through the chamber, means forheating the water supply, means influenced by the initial Wetbulbtemperature of the air entering the chamber controlling the heatingmeans, sprayforming means in the chamber in the path of the air currenta separator for eliminating the excess of moisture caused by the sprayforming means, said chamber having means for collecting the excess ofmoisture coming from the separator, means for mixing the water from thesupply with that collected from the separator, a thermostat influencedby the temperature of the water collected from the separator forcontrolling the mixing means, said thermostat having means adapted toinfluence the'heating means of the supply, and a pump for supplying thewater mixture to the spray-formin means.

4. An apparatus for purifying andhumidifying air, comprising incombination,an air chamber through which an air current can be created,a water supply, means for heating the water, means influenced by theinitial wet-bulb temperature of the air current entering the chamber forcontrolling the heating means whereby the temperature of the water maybe varied, spray-forming means in the path of the air current, a separator in the path of the air current for eliminating the excess ofmoisture caused by the tit spray-forming means, means for collecting aperatureof the moisture collected by the separator for controlling themixing means, means connecting said thermostat with the heating meanswhereby the heating means are adapted to be controlled by saidthermostat independently of the thermostat controlling said heatingmeans, and a pump for delivering the mixture to the spray-forming means.i

5. An apparatus for purifying and humidifying air, comprising incombination,-an air chamber through which an air current may be passed,means for supplying moisture to the air current, means for eliminatingthe excess of moisture supplied, a supply of water, means for heatingthe supply of water, a thermostat influenced by the initial wet-bulbtemperature of the air current entering the chamber for controlling theheating means, means for forming a mixture of the water collected andthat from the supply before delivering it to the means for supplyingmoisture, and a thermostat aflected by the temperature of the moisturecollected for controlling the mixing means and the heating means.

OLPH W. LISSAUER.

